Experience has shown the "rhythm" of VHF contesting. Everyone starts out on 6
&/or 2m and your local stations are the strongest, so you wind up working them
first. Last night at our club meeting, WA3NUF validated this, showing that
almost 40% of VHF contest QSOs were made in the first 4 hours of the event.
Many rovers know by experience that if they are in a "rare" grid, having
driven many miles to get there and set up to be ready at the starting bell,
that few if any of the fixed stations will be looking for them, as they are too
busy working all the "locals" on 6&2, and will not take the time to "run the
bands" then either. But if they are there on Sunday afternoon, when things slow
down, they'll find plenty of folks looking for them. Yes, it's a dilemma for
rovers, who would like to spend driving time outside of the contest hours, but
the facts still remain that for the first several hours of the contest, the
action is mainly local, save for some 6m Es. And if there is 6m Es, no-one is
going to break their run to go up to the higher bands.
My strategy as a rover has been most successful when I start in grids close to
the ham population centers and then go to more distant grids on Sunday, saving
the long ride home for after the contest. Rick, K1DS
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